Press in 2016: If Indicted, Hillary Could Pardon Herself

Don Surber  " 'If Hillary Is Indicted, President Clinton Could Pardon Herself and Congress Might be Helpless," Law and Crime reported on October 28, 2016.

"The piece came as Jimmy the Weasel Comey re-opened Hillarygate v7.0.

"Presidential pardoning is in the Constitution.

"Chris White wrote, "Based on the language of Article II, Section 2, the only limits placed on the power are that pardons may only be issued for federal offenses (not civil or state crimes), and a pardon cannot override the Congress’ impeachment power. Presidents have used this power to issue pardons in a wide range of matters throughout the country’s history. However, no president has ever attempted to pardon himself."

"Ah, but she could have been impeached and impeachment trumps pardon.

" 'In Clinton’s case, however, the conduct underlying this hypothetical indictment occurred prior to her taking office. The House of Representatives, as far back as 1873, has determined that a person cannot be impeached based on conduct prior to them holding office. In other words, House precedent says a President Hillary Clinton could not be impeached as president for crimes related to the e-mail server or the Clinton Foundation," White wrote.

"Hmm.

"The election occurred before Trump's presidency. This limits Mueller's witch hunt to anything post-inauguration.

"Bummer."

Bill Clinton tries a do-over as book publicity tour nightmare looms, helped by a late-night TV host

Thomas Lifson   'Last night with the help of Stephen Colbert, known for his vicious attacks on President Trump, Bill Clinton desperately tried to recover from his disastrous Today show interview peddling the thriller novel he purportedly "co-wrote" with James Patterson.  Colbert began the interview openly admitting his intent of helping Clinton out of the hole he has dug for himself, beginning the exchange with this statement:

I noticed you didn't enjoy that entire [Today show] interview. I want you to enjoy this one.

"I don't think Colbert's hopes were realized, but not for his lack of effort.  Clinton obviously realizes he has no way out from the trap that has sprung on him, now that #MeToo reigns on the left and he and Hillary are unable to deliver any power.  He is still blaming NBC ("They had to distill it, and it looked like it said I didn't apologize and had no intention to, and I was mad at me."), and the most he will say is that he already apologized: "But the important thing is that was a very painful thing that happened 20 years ago and I apologized to my family, to Monica Lewinsky and her family, to the American people.  I meant it then; I meant it now.  I have had to live with the consequences every day since.' " . . .

The Late Show

✔@colbertlateshow

TONIGHT: Stephen offers @BillClinton the opportunity for a do-over regarding a question he was asked in an interview earlier this week. #LSSC #BillClinton

Today, Al Gore still bristles when asked about his relationship with Hillary Clinton – who many characterized as Bill Clinton’s co-president, diminishing Gore’s role as veep.

NY Post  "Tipper Gore was more enraged about Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky than even Hillary Clinton, according to a new book.

"“Tipper Gore was furious at Bill Clinton, angrier than Hillary Clinton was,” author Kate Andersen Brower told The Post. Her new book, “First in Line: Presidents, Vice Presidents and the Pursuit of Power,” comes out Tuesday. 

"With Lewinsky being the same age as the Gores’ eldest daughter, Karenna, Tipper “felt personally offended by the scandal,” said ex-Gore aide Jamal Simmons. The White House intern was 22 when the affair with Bill Clinton began.

“ 'In Gore’s case there’s no way he would have gotten to such a dark place if Tipper hasn’t been so mad,” another aide told the author.

"That “dark place” was Al Gore’s decision not to campaign with Bill Clinton during Gore’s 2000 run for the presidency, which – like Hillary Clinton – he lost because of the Electoral College math.

"Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, used her husband’s White House record to vault into a US Senate seat in 2000, representing New York, becoming the first first lady to ever hold elected office." . . .

#Spygate and Leftists' Lack of Patriotism

Leftist lies about the impact of Russia on the election and Trump's supposed collusion with Russia to steal the election have done far more damage to American's trust in our electoral process than anything the Russians actually did.  

Tom Trinko  "Leftists, despite their continual condemnation of America's values and their steadfast insistence that all international problems are due to America, become incensed if their patriotism is questioned.

"The reality is that all that matters to leftists is obtaining the power necessary to control the lives of all Americans.  If you doubt that leftists feel they have the right to control the rest of us, remember that when they have the chance, leftists are eager to tell us how much soda we can drink. 

. . . 

"One of the few actual events the leftists can point to is the leaking of the DNC emails.  The first thing to note is that we don't really know if the Russians were behind that.  The DNC refused to turn the targeted computer over to the FBI or the CIA, which means that claims by any government agency that the Russians were behind it are based on secondhand information.  Given the well established political bias of the FBI and the historical liberal bias of the CIA – the CIA is staffed mainly by graduates of liberal east-coast colleges – it's absurd to simply believe any claims by them when they couldn't conduct an independent forensic analysis on the targeted computer." . . .

The Trump-Mueller Show never ends

"Wrapping It Up" (so it is said).  "How long will the "Russian collusion" circus continue imploding before it reaches critical mass and leaves nothing but wreckage across the liberal D.C. landscape?

"At this point, no other outcome is conceivable.  Any hope that the investigation would land a glove on Donald Trump has been long abandoned by any rational onlooker.  This conclusion became inescapable when Robert Mueller humiliated himself in a court of law by attempting to indict individuals and companies that didn't exist (when life begins to look like metaphors, it's time to quit).  We can throw in the pitiful May 18 Washington Post op-ed by former agent Asha Rangappa claiming that the spies were emplaced in the Trump campaign to "protect" him.  (As an editor, I would have gone with a different title – something like "Please Don't Hit Us.")  The attempt to valorize Comey as a national hero through his book "Hustler's Honor," or whatever it was titled, fizzled out in the midst of a failed book tour." . . .

Celebrity quiz: check your knowledge!

American Thinker

These Haunting Photographs Of Auschwitz Prisoners Are Even More Harrowing In Color

Perfect Life "Black and white photos often make events and moments in recent history feel older than they really are. As a result, we usually don’t relate to them as we do with a photo that is in color. So what happens when you take old black and white photographs, and colorize them? Take a look at these photographs and see if you feel any different about them…"

WATCH: Sarah Sanders Destroys Philadelphia Eagles Over ‘Political Stunt’

Daily Wire  White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders slammed the Philadelphia Eagles during Tuesday's press briefing, accusing the team of engaging in a "political stunt."
"During the briefing, ABC News’ Jon Karl asked if President Donald Trump was aware that not a single player from the Eagles team had taken a knee during the national anthem all season long.
""There were 80 members of the Eagles' organization that RSVPd and committed to attend this event as recently as Friday as well as over 1,000 fans of the Eagles' organization," Sanders said. "The Eagles, are the ones that tried to change their commitment at the 11th hour and the president frankly thinks that the fans deserve better than that and therefore we changed the ceremony to be a focus on celebrating our great country."
"Karl persisted in obnoxious fashion, interrupting another reporter that Sanders had called on, suggesting to Sanders that something bigger was going on as Lebron James and Stephon Curry have indicated their NBA teams will also not travel to the White House.
" 'Look, if this wasn't a political stunt by the Eagles' franchise then they wouldn't have planned to attend the event and backed out at the last minute," Sanders replied. "If it wasn't a political stunt then they wouldn't have attempted to reschedule the visit when they knew the president was going to be overseas and if this wasn't a political stunt they wouldn't have waited until Monday, well after 1,000 of their fans had traveled and taken time out of their schedules to offer only a tiny handful of representatives to attend the event.' " . . .

Why Masterpiece Cakeshop Is a Win for Religious Freedom

SCOTUS didn't touch the First Amendment issue, but Kennedy's decision smacked down anti-Christian hostility

Mark Hemingway at Weekly Standard   . . . "The court ruled that the government has an obligation to act neutrally with regard to religious beliefs when evaluating whether forcing someone to violate those beliefs is ultimately in the public interest, and that that the commission did not do so in regard to Phillips. The majority opinion written by Anthony Kennedy, the court’s swing vote and author of Obergefell majority opinion, really hammered this point home:

The commissioner even went so far as to compare Phillips’ invocation of his sincerely held religious beliefs to defenses of slavery and the Holocaust. This sentiment is inappropriate for a Commission charged with the solemn responsibility of fair and neutral enforcement of Colorado’s antidiscrimination law—a law that protects discrimination on the basis of religion as well as sexual orientation. The record shows no objection to these comments from other commissioners. And the later state-court ruling reviewing the Commission’s decision did not mention those comments, much less express concern with their content. Nor were the comments by the commissioners disavowed in the briefs filed in this Court. For these reasons, the Court cannot avoid the conclusion that these statements cast doubt on the fairness and impartiality of the Commission’s adjudication of Phillips’ case. . . .

The Supreme Court Pushes Back Against the Rising Tide of Anti-Religious Animus

The Supreme Court took an important step in recognizing that the First Amendment remains in force. It also confirmed what I have said for years, namely, that LGBT activism is the principle threat to freedoms of religion, speech, and conscience in America. May the pushback against this extremism continue.

A Progressive's Guide to Political Correctness

It's Now Against The Law In California To Shower And Do Laundry On The Same Day

The Organic Prepper  

"Governor Jerry Brown is retiring but not before he passes a few draconian laws as parting gifts for California. Two bills were signed into law on Thursday of last week to “help California be better prepared for future droughts and the effects of climate change.”
"The mandatory water conservation standards will be permanent, according to their wording, and not just for use in times of crisis. To make a long story short, now that these bills are law, it’s illegal to take a shower and do a load of laundry in the same day because you’ll exceed your “ration.”

"Here’s the wording of the new laws.

"Senate Bill 606 establishes a “governing body” to oversee all water suppliers, both private and public and will require extensive paperwork from those utility companies.
"Assembly Bill 1668 is where it gets personal.  This establishes limits on indoor water usage for every person in California and the amount allowed will decrease even further over the next 12 years.
. . .

"If you’re wondering how the government would know how much water your family is using, the utility providers will be obligated to rat you out of face massive fines. And they’re encouraged to spy in all sorts of creative ways. They “shall use satellite imagery, site visits, or other best available technology to develop an accurate estimate of landscaped areas.”  

Some analysis  "Now, if you’re wondering where I get my assertion that you can’t shower and do laundry on the same day, here’s some math:

An 8-minute shower uses about 17 gallons of waterA load of laundry uses about 40 gallons of waterA bathtub holds 80 to 100 gallons of waterA dishwasher uses 6 gallons of water

Via Zero Hedge:  Don’t think this only affects California

• These stringent measures set a dangerous precedent for the rest of the country.
• There could be a shortage of food coming out of California because there isn’t enough water to produce it.
• The food we do get from there will cost a lot more.

If Hillary Is Indicted, President Clinton Could Pardon Herself and Congress Might be Helpless

From 2016: Law & Crime

It is Friday, January 20, 2017 and Hillary Clinton has just been sworn in as the 45^th President of the United States after narrowly defeating Donald Trump in November. Republicans managed to hold both the House of Representatives and the Senate. A few weeks after winning the election, however, the Department of Justice handed down a multi-count indictment against Clinton over her handling of classified information and her involvement in an alleged pay for play scandal with the Clinton Foundation during her time as Secretary of State. It is a scenario that several of our commentators, and twitter followers have asked us to analyze.
. . . 
"In Clinton’s case, however, the conduct underlying this hypothetical indictment occurred prior to her taking office. The House of Representatives, as far back as 1873, has determined that a person cannot be impeached based on conduct prior to them holding office. In other words, House precedent says a President Hillary Clinton could not be impeached as president for crimes related to the e-mail server or the Clinton Foundation." . . .